Gene Simmons, left, and Paul Stanley are lending their legendary rock band’s name to the new Arena League football team, which will be called the L.A. Kiss. (File photo by Robert Casillas/Daily Breeze)

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Gene Simmons, left, and Paul Stanley are lending their legendary rock band’s name to the new Arena League football team, which will be called the L.A. Kiss. (File photo by Robert Casillas/Daily Breeze)

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Gene Simmons, left, and Paul Stanley are lending their legendary rock band’s name to the new Arena League football team, which will be called the L.A. Kiss. (File photo by Robert Casillas/Daily Breeze)

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Gene Simmons, left, and Paul Stanley are lending their legendary rock band’s name to the new Arena League football team, which will be called the L.A. Kiss. (File photo by Robert Casillas/Daily Breeze)

LOS ANGELES — Arena League football fans get ready to rock ’n’ roll all night.

The league is returning to the Los Angeles area with a new expansion team named after the rock band Kiss.

The expansion L.A. Kiss will begin play in 2014 with home games at Honda Center in Anaheim.

The league made the announcement on Thursday. Season tickets will be available for $99 and inaugural season seat holders will be invited to a free Kiss concert at Honda Center next year.

Founding band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are fans of the league that features 50-yard fields and high-scoring offenses.

Simmons says the AFL’s fast-paced action is an obvious fit for the band known for its high-energy shows and flamboyant costumes and makeup. He says attending an L.A. Kiss game will be similar to seeing the band play live.

“There’s nothing like AFL and that’s what we’re going to promote,” Simmons told a news conference. “This is about taking AFL to heights it’s never been before.”

Southern California hasn’t had an AFL team since the Los Angeles Avengers folded in April 2009. They played eight seasons at Staples Center.

“L.A. is dying for a football team,” Stanley said. “What we want to see happen is to take the excitement that is AFL football and bring entertainment to it. We don’t put our name on something unless we believe in it. This is something that really resonates with us.”

The band’s manager, Doc McGhee, helped bring the rockers and the league together.

The league’s Arena Bowl will be played Saturday in Orlando, Fla., featuring the defending champion Arizona Rattlers against the Philadelphia Soul. Rockers Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were original owners of the Soul.

The CBS telecast of the game will include a halftime show with Kiss. The band is playing Friday night as part of the league’s festivities.

Jack Wang covers the Chargers, the latest NFL team to relocate to Los Angeles. He previously covered the Rams, and also spent four years on the UCLA beat, a strange period in which the Bruins' football program often outpaced their basketball team. He is a proud graduate of UC Berkeley, where he spent most of his time in The Daily Californian offices in Eshleman Hall — a building that did not become earthquake-safe until after his time on campus.

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Gene Simmons, left, and Paul Stanley are lending their legendary rock band’s name to the new Arena League football team, which will be called the L.A. Kiss. (File photo by Robert Casillas/Daily Breeze)

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.

Gene Simmons, left, and Paul Stanley are lending their legendary rock band’s name to the new Arena League football team, which will be called the L.A. Kiss. (File photo by Robert Casillas/Daily Breeze)

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.

Gene Simmons, left, and Paul Stanley are lending their legendary rock band’s name to the new Arena League football team, which will be called the L.A. Kiss. (File photo by Robert Casillas/Daily Breeze)

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.